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China regrets deadly fishing fracas

China has expressed regret for the death of a South Korean coast guard officer in a fight with Chinese fishermen and has promised to co-operate in South Korea's investigation.

In China's first official comment since Monday's incident in South Korean waters, China's Foreign Ministry offered an apology that glossed over South Korea's accusations that a Chinese ship captain fatally stabbed the South Korean officer.

"The Chinese side regrets that the relevant incident caused death of an R.O.K. coast guard officer, which is an unfortunate event," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said, using the acronym for South Korea's official name.

Asked at a daily media briefing whether China would compensate the dead officer's family, Liu said the Chinese government is working with the South Korea "to investigate and verify the situation". He said China is ready "to settle relevant issues".

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Run-ins between Chinese fishing vessels and South Korean coast guard are growing more frequent, as Chinese fleets go farther afield for fish, and the confrontations are straining relations between the countries.

Monday's deadly incident has sparked predictably angry sentiments among some Chinese, who accuse South Korean authorities of bullying behaviour.

"Is this illegal fishing or illegal enforcement?" Qi Chengwei said in a posting to Sina Corp's microblog, a Chinese version of Twitter.